SRINAGAR, July 8: The weekly Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service was suspended today after a portion of highway around three kilometers prior to Kaman Post in Uri was washed away due to torrential rains coupled with cloud burst.

The Bus had to return from Pattan in Baramulla district, with 60 passengers going to Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PAK) on board, sources said.

According to Khwaja Ghulam Mohammad, Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, the bus service was suspended following a huge cloud burst that washed away around 100 meters of highway near Uroosa, three kilometers from Kaman Post in Uri.

“Border Roads Organisation is at work on this washed away portion which is nearing an end. By tomorrow it will be restored. And now the bus will ply on coming Monday,” DC Baramulla told Kashmir Times.

Senior civil officers rushed to the scene to assess the damage caused to the highway, as heavy rains lashed wide parts of Kashmir valley this morning. Repair work to restore the 170-kilometers road between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad was immediately started and according to DC Baramulla the road will be through by tomorrow.

The bus runs a distance of 170 kilometers. Officially launched on April 7, 2005 the bus service was flagged-off by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. To travel through this bus, people apply at the Regional Passport Office in Srinagar, the designated authority to evaluate applications, verify identities and issue entry permits.

RAJOURI, July 8: In an accidental mortar shell blast which occurred near the forward post in Nowshera sector in the afternoon today, a soldier of Sikh Li Regiment was injured while an abandoned mortar shell was defused.
Official spokesman said that Naik Jagtar Singh of Sikh Regiment was on duty at Ashoka Post in Nowshera sector in Rajouri district. He received splinter injuries in his left hand when an abandoned mortar shell exploded accidently near the post. He was immediately shifted to near